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Saturday, June 2, 2018

Royal Profile: King Constantine II of Greece

King Constantine II of Greece was born 2 June 1940 as the middle child and only son of King Paul I & Queen Fredrica {Source}. He has two sisters, a brother-in-law, two nieces, a nephew, four great nieces, and four great nephews{Source}:

Shortly after his birth, he and his family went into exile in South Africa{Source}. The royal family eventually returned to Greece, where Constantine began speaking fluent Arabic with servants and staff{Source}. His uncle, King George II died in 1947, without any heirs, therefore, his father became King Paul I, and he became Crown Prince of Greece{Source}.

Beginning in 1949, he attended Aanavryta High School in Greece {Source}. During his education, he also undertook military training on the weekends{Source}. As the only son, he took an oath of allegence to the Greek military (army, navy and air force) in 1958{Source}.In 1960, he became the first Greek to win an Olympic Gold Medal since 1912{Source}. He achieved this in Sailing (Dragon Class){Source}. After the Olymics, he began to study law at Athens University{Source}. During this time, he also undertook a visit to the United States, to see military and industrial establishments{Source}.

His diplomatic education began at a young age, and he often attended state visits with his parents-Italy, UK, West Germany, Lebanon, Ethiopia, India, and Thailand, where he met many world leaders{Source}.

In March 1964, his father died, leaving Constantine as King of Greece{Source}.

Later that same year, he married Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark{Source}. Together, they have the following children, children-in-law and grandchildren:

After his accession to the throne, King Constantine was faced with a challenging internal situation. There were riots in the hot days of July 1965 after the resignation of Papandreou as Prime Minister{Source}. Just before elections were due to be held in May 1967, there was a 'coup d'etat' by Army Colonels{Source}.. King Constantine was faced with conflicting pressures, but always put the safety of the people at the top of his agenda{Source}.In December 1967, King Constantine went to Kavalla, in the north of Greece, to lead an attempt to overthrow the military junta in order to restore democracy{Source}. He soon recognized that any further action could result in bloodshed, so left with his family for Rome, where he lived until 1973{Source}. Frequent requests were made to the King to return, but he refused to do so unless democracy was first restored{Source}. On 1 June 1973, King Constantine was formally deposed by Papadopoulos, leader of the coup, and a Republic declared{Source}.

During 1973, King Constantine flew regularly from Rome to Cambridge to attend a course in political history at the University{Source}. The following year, he and his family moved to England - where they have lived ever since. After a short period in Chobham, Surrey, he settled in Hampstead, on the northern heights of London{Source}. However, in recent years, he has returned to Greece and placed their London home up for sale {Source}.

In 1980, a few years prior to the births of his youngest children, he, his wife and members of the expat Greek community in London founded a Greek school, The Hellenic College of London for students from age 4 to 18{Source}.

In 1981, he and his family returned briefly to Greece for his mother's funeral {Source}. His next visit wouldn't take place for another 12 years in 1993, where he spent two weeks privately{Source}. In 1994, his citizenship to Greece and took over his properties-a move which was eventually vindicated by the family with the European Court of Human Rights in 2000{Source}. Although properties have been reembursted to the family monetarily, the case of their citizenship has yet to be decided by the courts{Source}.

The deposed king is a member of many committees, chairman of many boards, and fufills many philanthorpic activities. Some of his patronages include{Source} :

The Ana Maria Foundation

Round Square (patron and chair)

International Sailing Federation (co-honorary president)

International Olympic Committee (Honorary member)

King Constantine is a devout member of the Orthodox Church, enjoys classical music (opera and ballet), spending time with his grandchildren and re-visiting favorite places in Greece with his family {Source}.